goldenseal

sengerOctober 29, 2007

i currently dug some wild goldenseal and i called a guy today who buys it. he said hes giving 25 bucks per pound of dried goldenseal root. that sounds a little low to me. does anyone know the going price or where i might obtain this information.

I only buy cultivated goldenseal root and extracts. One place I buy from has organic goldenseal root at $80 a pound, which is more than they buy it for (the seller might get half of that - not sure on the exact split). While wildcrafted is presumably as good as (or better than) organic, if it is not certified, it can't be sold as organic. Because of the conservation issues and depletion of wild goldenseal, it may not have a high price.

To expand on the conservation issue - goldenseal is an endangered plant, and its continued use is hard to justify on the basis of its limited herbal applications. Even herbalists, recognizing the plant's threatened status, are suggesting that alternatives be used.

How many plants does it take to make a pound of dried goldenseal? If you are harvesting this with permission from land slated for development (as stated on Herb forum), you may have a better market selling live potted plants to native plant nurseries (though they will want proof of ethical harvest).

Goldenseal is hard to find and native plant gardeners will likely pay $10 to $20 per plant retail; that means $5 to $10 perplant for you.